Green Sprouts in the Sidewalk?

It's really, really depressing to read the U.S. political news these days. Here's Kansas Senator Pat Roberts -- who represents Kansas City, where Ford makes its hybrid Escape -- blasting the compromise worked out two years ago between the auto industry, environmentalists, states, and the Obama administration to improve the fuel economy of American vehicles by 35 percent by 2016.

Beyond affecting the way people power their homes and businesses, the administration has even moved to regulate what cars Americans can drive.

This was made evident by the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's decision last year to begin mandating greater fuel economy and emissions standards for all passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks.

Recent analysis has estimated this new regulation will cost the already struggling automobile industry upwards of 10.8 billion dollars to comply, and consumers up to 985 dollars per vehicle in higher purchase prices.

Now Roberts knows, but ignores, the facts. Consumers were going to make more money on gas saved than they paid for the more-efficient cars -- even when gasoline was $2.61/gallon. Of course, with gas prices north of $4.00/gallon, the savings are even greater. The auto industry agreed to the compromise because it finally realized that, in a world of ever-scarcer cheap oil, fuel efficiency would be essential to save their markets. Just today, GM announced that will more than double the number of Chevy Volts it manufactures, adding a second shift to a plant in Hamtramck.

But the auto industry isn't the only segment of American industry that has decided to ignore the nonsense going on in Washington. Wal-Mart announced that it was not satisfied with the pace of federal regulation of the toxic flame retardant PBDE.  While the EPA has been working on a gradual phase-out, Wal-Mart simply decided to ban the chemical, a neurotoxin that the EPA says is "persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic to both humans and the environment."

The usual suspects complained -- the American Council on Science and Health sniped that "They've been at this for a while, trying to keep up with the Green movement... Sam Walton is probably turning over in his grave." (I have yet to find any evidence that Sam Walton ever went on record in favor of poisoning his customers -- seems a tad unlikely.)

And then there is Exelon's CEO, John Rowe, speaking out in DC with the unpardonable heresy, coming from one of the nation's biggest utility operators, that the EPA should be allowed to get on with the job of cleaning up utility pollution:

Now, one of the things I do want to see happen is EPA to be allowed to enforce the regulations it's evolving under the Clean Air Act.

EPA has been ordered by the courts to enforce the Clean Air Act. We at Exelon support their doing so. Like any other member of EEI, we might argue about any particular rule. We've never been in love with everything any government agency did yet and we'll doubtless find some fault in some of these.

But the thrust is that it's time to clean up the nation's energy fleet and it's time to enforce the existing law.

So not only are the sprouts of environmental reform vigorous but they are also breaking through the pavement in corporate America of all places. Big companies that for a long time hid behind Washington's failure to act are now getting out ahead -- because cleaning up their act is good business.

Yes, the political news is depressing. But America is moving anyway.

 

 

 

Follow Carl Pope on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CarlPope

Comments

[John02050]

12:55 PM on 03/13/2011

America is in the middle of a grassroots green movement, because there is hardly anything of value coming from the federal government. Most action is coming from state and local governments, businesses, communities, and individuals.

And there's nothing wrong with that. It's the way it should be. It's folly to wait for orders from above before acting in one's own obvious self-interest.

Individuals in the tea party movement concerned with our nation behaving within the confines of our constitution and individuals in the green movement concerned with resource sustainability could learn a lot from each other.

[fpie]

07:27 AM on 03/12/2011

High gas prices will drive the market to efficiancy but regulation will certainly give the movement a boost in the right direction.
I'm living in europe now and paying (to the best of my calculating ability) about $5+ per gallon. At those prices I couldn't drive my old Ford pick up or even my old Subaru that I drove in the US.
If only America had listened to stodgey old Jimmy Carter instead of smooth talking Ronald Reagan we would all be living in a better and safer world today.

[artleads]

01:06 AM on 03/12/2011

A bit of hope shooting up through the cracks. Actually, I contend that America will surprise everybody and be carbon neutral some time around 2020. And we will do it on a voluntary level.

[Roy Merritt old car guy]

07:45 PM on 03/12/2011

It won't be at a voluntary level because Koch Industries will do all that is legal and illegal to stop EPA. They will buy Senators, Congressmen and Lobbiest to put enough misinformation to get the Tea Party to try and derail the Green drive. The Koch Industries is one of the top 10 poluters in the USA and they don't want anybody upsetting the applecart. The don't believe in green house gases or global warming, it doesn't matter how much polar ice melts. These vermin are as rich as they come and are spending billions to make America the Smog capital of the world.

[artleads]

11:01 PM on 03/12/2011

That's why the revolution I predict will take place without their or other establishment support. Business people will see that it's good business, and the proverbial American creativity will start rolling. Just wait and see. A revolution by the business community, free from politics.

[Brian Zwart]

07:37 PM on 03/13/2011

I don't see anything profitable about polluting the environment, but in the same respect the world isn't flat as a pancake either. There are alot of theories circulating about different topics, the end-of-the-world, etc.... Most of these theories have to do with a conspiracy or two. With the information darting from all directions, how do you make your own inference? I bought a Sony E-reader without even thinking that I was doing something good for the world, it just became another technology gadget, then someone told me I'm helping with the environment..... made me feel kind of good. Somehow the green movement is still in the very early stages, and to say that everyone having a hybrid will actually save the environment encompasses a very small percentage of what is actually needed to save the environment, which makes it understandable why some people, somewhat uneducated, say it will never happen in my lifetime.